George_Jetson

How does it start when the engine is cold? Does the ambient temp make a difference? ie. cold morning vs warmer afternoon. Any other symptoms such as check engine light. Assuming no other symptoms, I would first check coolant sensor. Note that there are separate sensor for the gauge and ECU, make sure to check the correct one.

Well the tests you just ran indicates that the power brake booster is working and does not have a vac leak. Some metallic brake pads need to be warm before they have optimal brake performance. It is possible that he installed a set of metallics and you are noticing the difference. Does it feel different after you have done several stops to warm up the pads? It may just be that you were used to organic pads, and you now have metallics. Does it stop straight, without pulling to either side? Have you mechanic drive the car, and ask if metallic pads were installed. It sounds like you trust your mechanic so if there is a problem he would let you know. Without a test drive I cannot make any further suggestions.

First, to check the power brake booster. Start the car and let it run for a couple minutes. Then turn off the engine and then depress the brakes. Make note on the feel and how far down the pedal goes. Release the brake pedal, and then depress it again, note where it stops the second time. Release and then repeat again. Does the pedal stop at a higher position each time? Next Depress the pedal and then start the car. Does the pedal go down further? These tests will tell you if the brake booster is working and / or leaking. These cars have 4 wheel disc brakes, so putting it into reverse to adj the drum brakes is not valid. Note there are a small set of drum brakes located inside the rear rotors, but this is for the emergency brake, and I do not believe that this has a self adjuster on it. As far as the brake pedal feel changing radically after your home mechanic worked on it is a little distrubing. There are too many possibilites to diagnose this over the internet. BUT I would strongly recommend taking you car to have the brakes looked at. I believe that your mechainc made a mistake, for safety sake get it checked out.

In order to paint a "plastic" bumper, they need to mix additives to the paint in order to make it more flexible. This makes it a little harder to match the paint. But if you are taking your car to a decent paint shop, they would be able to give you better advice than a mechanic. Body and paint work require a different skill set than mechanics so although your mechanic may be good, he is probably not the best source of information on paint.

Buy the parts used, on ebay. Test it thoughly before you install it.

The rear valve cover is a very common area for leaks, the amount of tilt these engines have makes leaks very common in this area. I suggest buy a can of brake cleaner and spraying the bottom of the engine. brake cleanner will wash off all the oil and make it much easier to see where the leak is coming from.

40k sounds a little too soon to be replacing rotors. But they are easy enough to check, if it passes a visual inspection, a decent mechanic would then measure the thickness to see if they are capable of being turned. If there is any doubt, he would then measure the runout. It is not impossible that you needed new rotors at 40k, but it is unlikely. The fact that you had to bring it back in for brake, and then they charged you for the callback! I would suggest not ever going back there.

The ECM is basically looking for a slowly varying signal from the downstream sensor, one option that has been used by people who remove the cats is to simulate this signal electronically. This allows people to remove the cats (helpfull if you are tunning a turbo, etc). If I was in your situation, I would purchase one of these simulators and fool the ECM into thinking everything is ok. I would leave as much of the system intact as practical in case you move to a area where they require testing. So with that in mind, I would purchase the simulator, and cut the harness and wires off the appropriate O2 sensor. This way you could return the system to stock with the purchase and installation of a single O2 sensor. If you do a search of ebay for "o2 simulators" you will see what I am talking about.

The downstream O2 sensor monitors the catalytic converters, for proper operation. Several things can cause this code, and it could be expensive. Do you have emission testing in the county you live in? If not there could be easier alternatives. P0446 is for the evap leak, check hoses vac hoses for cracks or splits, the gas cap can also cause this code (there is a pressure relief valve built into the cap). Also if you do not tighten the cap properly, you can set this code.

I believe the receiver is located in the trunk, towards the front, on the drivers side.

a rebuilt, with warranty will run around $60 to $70. If cash is a little tight, you could try wrecking yards or ebay.

A common problem with these cars is the expansion valve, it will cause intermittent ac operation. Unfortunately although the valve is fairly in-expensive, replacing it is beyond the scope of the average person. To legally replace the valve the freon must be recovered. And even if the freon was to "leak" out, you need to evacuate the system before you recharge. If you do not, you will be asking for even bigger problems with the ac. As far as musty odder from the ac, it is very common for mold to grow on the evaporator. There are disinfectants and other cleaners that can be sprayed into the system to reduce the problem, but the only way to correct the problem is to remove the evaporator and properly clean it. You will also need to vac out the housing. Removing the evaporator is also beyond the scope of most home mechanics. The only encouraging information I can give you is that the expansion valve is hooked to the evaporator. So both problems could be corrected at the same time, saving considerable amount of money on the labor.

if you could back-probe the wires directly on the motor you could verify the integrity of the circuit. The connector at the motor probably has weather tight connectors, I am guessing that you probably do not have backprobing pins. You can make a good substitute by "Borrowing" a couple sewing needles of pins from your significant other. Solder a wire to each one. The idea is to slide the pin between the wire and seal at the connector. So the bottom line is, if you measure 12v at the motor (with it plugged in) and the window is still moving slowly, your next step would be to clean the rails that the window rides in. If it is still bad, replace the motor. The important thing about measuring the voltage is to have the actual load connected. The impedance of the average DVM is so high that you can read voltage at a terminal even if the circuit resistance is far too high to run a low impedance device (like a motor). I would be willing to be that the motor is bad, but this test will tell you for sure.

Odd that you are not able to read codes, VERY strange that it would run that bad without getting so much as a random miss-fire code. Perhaps the issue is with the ECM itself, but that would require further troubleshooting (I am not suggesting replacing the ECM right now). If you do not have any communication, you could check fuses, there is 1 fuse that supplies 12 to the OBDII diag port, if that is blown you would not get power to the scanner. Do you notice any issues with slow cranking when starting, or any other symptoms? If so take the car to you local auto part store and ask them to check the battery/charging system. Your previous mechanic sounds a little questionable. as far as the brake pad wear indicator, it is part of the pad, so when they replaced the pads the indicator is replaced too (although some aftermarket pads do not have wear indicators). As far as rotors, he should have been able to determine if they needed to be turned or replaced easily when he replaced the pads. Brake noise can be caused by several things, but it should be fairly easy for him to correct (many times all that needs to be done is apply anti squeal gop to the back of the pads). I am concerned that they did not replace all the the normal hardware when they first did the brakes. But to charge you again is a little outrangeous in my opinion.

It does not sound like the timing belt. I assume that the check engine light is on, so I would recomend having the codes read. Without knowing what codes are present, my first guess would be a fuel pressure related problem.

I looked up the schmatic, and it shows me (if I am reading it right), that the 20 amp fuse for the dome lights is also for the power windows. How many miles do you have on the car? My quess would be that the power window motor is worn. Do you own a DVM (multimeter) that can measure at least 20 amps? If so you can splice into one of the motor wires and measure the actual current. It would make sense that it would have problems closing, while opening is not a issue (gravity is helping the window open). I would check auto part stores for a rebuilt motor, or going to a wrecking yard for a used on. I am sure that Toyota is very proud of new motors, and Lexus would be even MORE PROUD! Whatever you decide, do not purchase for LEXUS.

Most likely, over the years the seals will dry and harden. When you remove the cover, it is very hard to get it on exactly the same position. It is a good practice to replace them every time you take the cover off (especially the rear cover, considering the amount of work required to remove the cover).

Check with the manufacture of the unit. Chances are they probably can give you more detailed hookup info. Do you have any experience with a soldering iron and heatshrink tubing? It is very important to make sure that your connections are secure, and soldering/heatshrink is by far the best method of ensuring that you have a secure connection. If you have basic soldering skills, and car specific instructions, you can probably do a good job. If not, I would probably recommend having it installed professionally.

Did you also replace the spark plug tube gaskets? Sorry to hear that it did not fix it the first time, but sooner or later it happens to all of us.

You can find a decent DVM (multimeter) at radio shack for under $25, it sounds like you will be needing one. You did not mention that you purchased a manual on the 'other' site, but that was a wise investment. The clicking is probably not the ECM, my guess is that the battery is not charging. Have that checked first. And also purchase the trickle charger. It may take you awhile to sort thru all of the problems, computer controlled cars have parasitic electrical loads (ie even when you remove the key, the clock, ECM, and stereo continue to draw current). If you leave the car sitting for a couple months, the battery will go dead. If the battery sits dead for too long, it will cause permanent damage to the battery. A trickle charger will prevent this.

I would not recommend trying to rebuild the master cylinder. If you try to hone the cylinder, you will leave sharp edges on the various ports inside the cylinder. These edges will damage the new seals. I strongly recommend buying a rebuilt master cylinder. Ps make sure to bench bleed the cylinder before installing it onto the car.

My point was more along the grounds that it is rediculous to even post this. For a person to move to a rural area and then complain that they do not have the same access to facilities that they have in a urban area such as Los Angeles,,, Must be a Democrat, because they want it both ways. My other home is on the big island. When I go there I expect not to able to access the same things that I have access to in Austin. I knew that before I purchased, and accepted the reality of the situation.

I would check the oil, and then do a compression check before buying plugs

Have you checked the condition of you oil? Is the oil pressure good? Does the volume or pitch of the noise change as the engine warms up? How does it idle?

You could always consider bringing it into a Toyota dealer, I am sure that there must be at least one of those in the Sadona area. If you decide to live in a rural area you must make some concessions!